Young Females in Public Schools

This is the story of a public school failing to support the psychological, social, and emotional development of young females. There’s an argument to be made that the impact on young males is similarly damaging, but, for this guide, I will be focusing on the feminine aspect.

My first complaint is regarding a policy that has been initiated by the school principal. He instituted a policy wherein students weren’t allowed to assemble in more than groups of two, and weren’t permitted to walk and talk on the playground at recess. All children were required to be actively engaging in a game or recognized activity, and were prohibited from just chatting together.

This policy directly targeted the female population, according to the walking-and-talking behaviour being a mostly female socialization method (with males primarily interacting through shared actions ) If this generally recognized developmental fact isn’t enough evidence of the sex-based discriminatory nature of the policy, my daughter reports that the principal made a statement to the classrooms once the ban was lifted. His announcement threatened the ban could be reinstated if there was”any more woman drama.”

His enforced restriction and subsequent comment were directly prohibitive to the natural development of a young female. My daughter was forced to choose which one of her several good friends she wanted to partner with for the day, and was additionally prohibited from engaging in bonding conversation with this kind of friend.

My second criticism will entail my daughter’s experiences with her fifth-grade teachers.

My daughter’s original fifth grade teacher was reported by my daughter to have an extremely rigorous and intimidating demeanor. As a very sensitive kid – and with high expectations for herself – my daughter could regularly develop a literal tummy pain from the anxiety of being concerned about pleasing him with her performance. Part of her anxiety came from listening to him single-out other kids in the classroom, to be able to be humiliating public examples of these through pointing out their flaws.

In support of my daughter – both academically and psychologically – I conveyed with this teacher through email on a regular basis. I received great reports about my daughter’s performance . Immediately following the start of his extended departure from the classroom due to illness, however, the next quarter report card came out. This is an insulting insinuation that this teacher knows when, where, and who my daughter ought to be asking for assistance, better than my daughter knows it for herself.

There was no indication in his regular emails to me that she was in need of academic assistance. In fact, one of his latest mails now was to let me know that my daughter had received one of the top scores on a math test. Additionally, I observed a very limited quantity of social studies content in my daughter’s homework. What I did see, I assisted her to complete (especially, a PowerPoint presentation about Martin Luther King, Jr., in which I encouraged her to include a mention on women’s rights)

The D- tier and relevant comment on the report card came from left field, which is not acceptable, taking into consideration the quantity of communication transpiring between the instructor and myself up until there. The strategy employed by the teacher in this regard was a blow to my daughter’s self-esteem, which I had to work to relieve. She was dismayed upon viewing the grade and the remark, as she had been receiving feedback that she was doing well up until that point. This tactic was cruel.

My daughter’s current long-term replacement teacher regularly and publicly expresses to students his dislike for our country’s president. For instance, my daughter quotes him as saying,”I’ve lived through (several) presidents, and this one I dislike the most.” Disrespect for our nation’s leader isn’t appropriate content for a teacher – who is in a position to influence young minds and perspectives – to be sharing with 10-year-olds. Irrespective of our personal positions, compulsory schooling should not include political indoctrination in opposition to the President of the United States. My daughter also reports that he raises his voice aggressively class, like by shouting”Silence!” When the class gets noisy. She, as a 10-year-old, has commented that he exhibits a”lack of control” from the classroom. She’s wise enough to notice that overt aggression is a indication of internal lack of electricity.

The type of sexist, non-patriotic, aggressive, and self-esteem damaging behavior listed here is not fitting of people in this position.

This attendance policy aspect is the last straw in my distaste for the faculty practices. I received a letter (several weeks following the post-date, because of my not retrieving my physical mail with regularity in this electronic age) saying that my daughter has too many”excused absences” and that I am required to have a physician’s note for any future absences. How can there be too many excused absences? I am not sending my young daughter to school when she isn’t feeling well enough to attend school, either physically, mentally, or emotionally. It is not in her best interest for me to do so, and it is imposing an unreasonable burden on a parent to be asked to go running to the doctor for a note, particularly when the parent understands full well that no physician’s prescription is needed for the ailment. I have consulted with a similarly-minded physician about this, and am currently gathering community support to deal with this inability of parents to excuse their own kids without receiving harassment from the faculty.

Nowhere in these truancy finds is it noted that my daughter goes above and beyond volunteering for school activities, and with my direct support and participation. She’s been part of this morning valet team for the past two school years. She voluntarily participated in the school science fair. She signed up to help with conducting a booth for the school carnival. She’s been a part of the School Safety Ambassador Club (SSA) for the past two years, and frequently consults me ways that she could effectively support other students in regard to reducing bullying and increasing self-esteem. Is this the sort of behavior related to an at-risk child, in need of truancy intervention?

Together with the widely reported increase in violence and disruptive behavior on college campuses, and with the absence of teeth in the present school behavior disciplinary policies, I was strongly considering enrolling my daughter in a homeschool schedule at the time she reached the 7th grade. The 5th grade experience, here, has persuaded me to begin that process as of the beginning of her next school year. There’ll not be a need for the school district to track her college attendance as of the 2018-2019 school year, as she won’t be attending the school. I am enrolling her into a schedule which better nurtures her overall development into a confident, secure, open-minded, conscientious – and female – member of society.